New Poll: Majority of Rhode Islanders Support Expansion of Charter Schools
Tuesday, March 23, 2021
The majority of Rhode Islanders favor expanding charter schools in the state by a margin of 21%.
The poll was commissioned by the parent group Stop the Wait RI — and found that 53% of Rhode Islanders favor increasing the number of charter schools in the state while 32% oppose the expansion.
In December of 2020, the Rhode Island Board of Education voted to approve the growth of public charter school seats by more than 5,500 seats.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTFollowing the body's vote, Senators Maryellen Goodwin, Sandra Cano, Ryan Pearson, and Ana Quezada led an effort to instead pass a three-year moratorium to block the voted-upon public charter school opportunities.
The move by the General Assembly members has infuriated many parents who have fought for families to have the choice to attend charter schools. Earlier this month, five frustrated mothers announced the formation of Stop the Wait RI.
Providence schools made national news nearly two years ago after a study by Johns Hopkins University found that they are among the worst in the country. Districts such as Pawtucket and Central Falls have equally poor test results - SEE TEST SCORES BELOW.
The House version of the moratorium legislation is scheduled for a hearing on Tuesday before the House Finance Committee — according to the charter schools advocacy group, more than 200 parents have signed up to oppose the moratorium legislation.
“These findings speak for themselves and as we have rallied since Friday to make sure hundreds of parents' voices are heard at the charter moratorium hearing Tuesday night. We want those legislators that support a charter moratorium to know they stand against Latino and Black parents and they stand against the sentiment of a majority of their constituents. They are simply on the wrong side of history,” said Janie Seguí Rodríguez, founding board member and chair of Stop the Wait RI.
This weekend, parents blistered House Majority Leader Chris Blazejewski for refusing to answer calls or emails from parents regarding the legislation.
“We will get as creative as we need to! A group of moms and our children stopped by his house today. We wanted to plead our case. Latinx students in RI are last in the nation for student outcomes. Our children are trapped in failing schools. We must center students and think of their futures when making difficult decisions. He was not home but his wife happened to arrive at that same time we did. She was very understanding and supportive of our reluctance to send our children to schools where proficiency rates are 8% in ELA and 5% in Math,” Seguí Rodríguez told GoLocal on Saturday.
According to the poll, by a 12-point margin, voters statewide oppose efforts to halt the opening of new charter schools or the expansion of existing ones (37% support / 49% oppose). The proposed moratorium is also opposed by Black voters by an overwhelming 35-point margin (31% support / 66% oppose).
The poll was conducted by ALG Research -- the pollster for President Joe Biden’s presidential campaign -- from March 11-16, 2021 among 650 registered voters in Rhode Island, 100 oversamples of voters in the City of Providence, and 50 oversamples of African Americans.
The group has also targeted House members who are blocking the expansion of charter school seats. In the past year, the waiting list for 1,800 charter seats exceeded 10,000 children.
According to the poll, 68% of the interviews were conducted over cell phones, while the remaining 32% were conducted using landlines.
The margin of error for the full sample is +/- 3.8%. The margin of error for subgroups varies and is higher.
The poll also noted that expanding the number of charter schools in Rhode Island is supported by wide margins of Latino voters (+36), parents of school-aged children (+26), African Americans (+26), Providence residents (+23), and Independents (+20).
Strong support for more charter schools also exceeds strong opposition by 11 points (30% strongly support / 19% strongly oppose).
“Rhode Island voters want more charter schools and they believe that there are not enough high-quality schools for low-income families in the state,” said Matt Hogan, partner at ALG Research. “Nearly nine out of ten Rhode Island voters (86%) believe that families should have a choice in where their child goes to school. In Providence, charter schools -- with a 55% positive job rating -- are more popular than any other type of school.”
Hogan added “The desire for more charter schools and opposition to the moratorium is driven by a firm belief among Rhode Island voters that charter schools help students. By a 34-point margin, voters believe public charter schools help (59%) rather than harm (25%) public education. The belief that charters help public education is especially strong among African Americans (72%). Additionally, by a 35-point margin (55% agree / 20% disagree), Rhode Islanders say the state’s charter schools typically outperform its traditional public schools.”
Related Slideshow: Rhode Island’s Worst Performing Middle Schools - July 1, 2019
All numbers have been rounded. Schools listed at those in which the percentage of Fails to Meet Expectations and Partially Meets Expectations Combine for 80% for either English Language Arts (ELA) or Math.
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